


Never Thought You'd Care

by fuzzballsheltiepants



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, NSFW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-08 22:50:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12874725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzballsheltiepants/pseuds/fuzzballsheltiepants
Summary: Aedion has been pining after Lysandra since she became his cousin Aelin's roommate months ago.  Finally, a misunderstanding pushes her to act.





	Never Thought You'd Care

The snow was just beginning to drift down, little flakes floating in the air but disappearing as soon as they hit the ground.  Aedion looked up to watch it fall for a moment, blinking away the flakes that landed on his eyelashes, enjoying the tiny dots of cold pricking his face.  When the light changed, he crossed the street to the club.  He nodded at the bouncer and walked right in, ignoring the glares from the people waiting in line.  
  
Lysandra was still behind the bar, shirt tied up along her ribcage, pants sitting low on her hips, showing off every curve and her navel piercing.  She ignored the men who were drooling over her like dogs, just kept flipping her bottles in her hand and pouring the drinks with practiced speed.  Personally, Aedion had a hard time keeping from smashing all their stupid faces into the bar, but he was pretty sure Lysandra wouldn’t appreciate the gesture.  After all, he had no rights to her.  He was just her roommate’s cousin, he reminded himself sternly, even if he did spend more time at the apartment she shared with Aelin than he did at his own place.  And though Aelin was developing eye strain from constantly rolling them at their flirtatious joking around, it had been months and Lysandra had shown no active interest.  Aedion could take a hint.  Not that it stopped him from showing up here to walk her home every night that she worked late.  
  
Those beautiful green eyes noticed him then, and her face tightened almost imperceptibly before she poured him his favorite porter and slid it down the counter at him.  He wondered idly what was bothering her, but figured she’d tell him on the way home.  Usually that was her chance to unload all of the frustrations of working this shit job while she saved for school.  Just as he finished draining his glass, her replacement bartender appeared and she gave him a nod and slipped into the back.  Aedion headed outside.  
  
The snow had started to stick, and the flakes were coming faster.  By the time Lysandra left through the staff door, so enveloped in her huge wool coat and scarf that only her eyes and hair showed, the shoulders of his jacket looked like they had been dusted with powdered sugar.  She reached him and just kept walking, so he turned and walked with her, stuffing his hands in his pockets since he hadn’t remembered gloves.  When they reached the end of the block and she still hadn’t said a word, he decided he had to ask.    
  
“What’s bugging you?”  
  
“Nothing,” she snapped, then her face softened and she looked almost guilty.  “I’m sorry, it’s just…do you ever think you know somebody, and then find out that you’re totally wrong about a major assumption you’ve made and it changes everything?”  
  
“Ummm…” He thought for a minute.  “I’m not sure what you mean.”  
  
She sighed.  “Never mind.  I’m just being stupid and unfair.”  
  
Something about the way she kept glancing at him sideways made him wonder if she was talking about him, though he had no clue what he’d done.  “That seems unlikely,” he said. “Want to give me some specifics here?”  She shook her head and he let it go.    
  
They continued on, the snow seeming to dampen the usual noises of the city; he could hear the flakes hissing as they landed on the pavement.  When they were nearing the brick building that housed her and Aelin’s apartment, she stopped abruptly and turned to face him.  “I didn’t know you were gay,” she blurted out.  
  
He burst out laughing.  “Where the hell did that come from?”  
  
Now she really looked self-conscious.  “The new girl at work.  Heather.  She saw you there last night, and she told me today, and I feel like such an idiot.  I mean, it’s none of my business…”  
  
“Heather?” he asked thoughtfully.  Heather, Heather.  Did he know a Heather?  Oh, right, _that_ Heather.  “I’m not gay.”  
  
“But then…Why did she say you were?”  
  
He shrugged.  “Probably because she walked in on me in bed with her brother last year.”  Lysandra’s jaw dropped, and he laughed again.  He wished he could whip his phone out and take a picture of her expression, but he doubted that would go over well.  “I’m bi, Lysandra.  Aelin never told you?”  She shook her head, and he took his hand out of his pocket to tap her on the chin.  She closed her mouth.  “I guess she never thought you’d care.”  
  
“I don’t.  I mean, I care, but it’s fine.  I mean…” She let out a frustrated breath, looking down at the sidewalk, her cheeks turning red from more than the cold.  
  
Aedion took a step closer, his hair falling in his face as he looked down at her.  “Lysandra,” he said gently, “I’m glad you care.”    
  
Lysandra glanced up at him through the fringe of her lashes and damn, she was devastating.  He reached up and brushed her glossy black hair off her cheek with his fingertips.  Her scarf had slipped down so that perfect full mouth was exposed, and he ran his thumb lightly over her lower lip.  “I’d like to kiss you,” he whispered.  She nodded, not taking her eyes off of his as he slowly bent down to meet her mouth with his own.  
  
Her lips were so soft, so smooth.  Aedion felt a twinge of guilt at the fact that he had forgotten to buy chapstick, but that thought was driven out of his head along with all others as she rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him back.  His arms wrapped around her of their own volition, but she didn’t stiffen or pull back, just melted further into him.  He ran the tip of his tongue lightly along the seam of her mouth and she opened for him, and he moaned deep in the back of his throat as her tongue began playing with his own.  It had been a while – months, actually – since he had been with anybody, and he fought to control the surge of desire that threatened to overwhelm him.  
  
He didn’t know how long they stood there on the sidewalk; all he knew was they were both panting when they finally broke apart.  A brisk breeze drove the snow into his collar, and Lysandra shivered.  “You should go inside,” he murmured, though he didn’t want to let go of her.  
She nodded, glancing at the door to her building, then back at him.  “Aelin’s probably staying with Rowan tonight,” she said, and he raised an eyebrow.  She rolled her eyes even as a grin spread across her face.  “Do you want to come in?”  
  
He brushed his lips against her cheek, a whisper of a kiss.  “I’d love to,” he breathed into her ear, and she shivered again, “but only if you’re sure.”  After all, he knew enough of her history to know she would have plenty of reasons to not want a man in her apartment, in her bed.  But she slipped her arm through his and turned towards the door.  
  
They paused on each landing to kiss again, her icy hands finding their way inside his open jacket on the first, under his shirt on the second, his resulting flinch making her smile against his lips.  When they reached the third floor, they stumbled down the hall, only breaking apart so Lysandra could fumble her key into the lock.  Before she could finish turning the key, his mouth was back on hers; when she finally got the door open they practically fell into the dark apartment.  He kicked the door closed, and she shoved him back against it, bunching his shirt in her fists as she stretched up to keep their mouths joined.    
  
Aedion pulled away long enough to shrug out of his jacket and let it fall to the floor.  Then he carefully unwound her scarf, and she laughed when he managed to get it tangled in her hair anyway.  He swore under his breath as he worked it free, then flung it in the vague direction of the coat hooks on the wall.  The buttons on her coat were easier to manage, and that soon joined her scarf.  Finally there weren’t so many damn layers between them, and he could feel the heat of her body through his t-shirt as she reached up and dragged his face back down to hers.  
  
His hands slid down to cup her ass, pressing her against him, all too aware that his arousal was pushing into her abdomen.  But she didn’t pull away, just slipped her hands back under his shirt and up his back.  Aedion paused to tug his shirt off, and she bit her lip as she looked at him.  The tattoo on his left pectoral drew her eye, and she traced it with a finger, flicking his nipple and chuckling when he shivered.    
  
“You’re kind of beautiful,” she said, and he couldn’t stop the heat from rising in his face.  He ducked his head, and she cupped his cheek in her hand.  He turned just enough to press his lips against her palm, his turquoise eyes holding hers.  She took a step back and, in one smooth movement, pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it next to his.    
  
For a moment he was struck stupid, she was so perfect.  “Gods, you’re stunning,” he said, his voice hoarse.  Her lips quirked up in a ghost of a smile, but that was raw need in her eyes as she stepped in close again.  
  
This time, he let his desire swamp him, let his hands roam all over her body as hers explored his own, let himself get lost in the clash of lips and tongues and teeth.  He flicked her bra open, sliding the straps off her shoulders, and she dropped her arms to let it fall at her feet.  She hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans and dragged him after her as she backed towards the couch.  When she reached it, she spun, pushing him down on it.  He was more than happy to comply, especially as she straddled him, her hands going immediately to undo his fly.    
  
There was no containing his moan as she gripped him through his boxers.  Before she could ease the thin cotton over his cock, he asked, “Are you certain she’s not coming back tonight?”  
  
Lysandra knew immediately what he meant.  “Pretty sure.”  She glanced at the door.  “Maybe we should head into my room, just in case.”  
  
Aedion nodded, pulling her down for another kiss before standing, holding her against his chest with one arm under her ass and the other around her ribcage.  He was nearly to her bedroom door when she murmured against his mouth, “Um, I should grab…something.”  He grinned at her unexpected shyness, and set her down gently on her feet.  She headed into the kitchen for some reason and pulled open one of the drawers, digging through an impressive amount of junk but not finding what she was seeking.  “Shit!” she said, digging further.  
  
He came up behind her, watching over her shoulder.  “What are you looking for?”  
  
“Condoms!  They were in here when I moved in, but I haven’t needed any so I never checked again.”  She finally pulled out a box, but it was empty, and she cursed again.  
  
He definitely did _not_ want to know why his baby cousin kept condoms in the kitchen in the first place, let alone why said box would’ve gone empty while she had a roommate.  The tiny bathroom held nothing but a sink, a toilet, and a shower so small he couldn’t even fit in it, so he knew there wouldn’t be any in there.  He wrapped his arms around Lysandra, who was throwing her hands up in despair, and tugged her back against his broad chest.  “Do you have any?” she asked.  
  
“Not with me.  I’ve got some at home but that’s a bit of a walk.”  
  
“Shit.”  She sagged back against him, and he grazed his nose up her neck before sucking her earlobe briefly into his mouth.  
  
“It’s fine,” he whispered into her ear.  “There’s plenty we can do without them.”  
  
She turned in his arms and put her hand over his tattoo.  “I know,” she said, pouting just enough to be adorable.  “I just really wanted…”  His mouth on hers cut off the rest of the sentence, and he began moving them back towards her bedroom step by step.  As they passed Aelin’s, a mildly disturbing thought popped into his brain.  
  
“Wait.”  He looked at the door, Lysandra’s eyes following his own.  “As much as I hate to even consider this, I can’t imagine Aelin doesn’t have some in her room.”  
  
“Should I text her?”  
  
“Fuck, no.” He shuddered theatrically and she laughed a little.  “Just go in and look.”    
  
Tentatively, she opened the door and tiptoed in, and he bit back his grin at the unnecessary caution.  A quick rummage in the bedside table had Lysandra waving a black box in triumph.  “It’s almost full!”  Gleefully she grabbed a strip and tiptoed back out, evidently concerned about leaving footprints on the wood floor.  Aedion reached for them, but she yanked them away and almost ran into her room, laughing breathlessly as he prowled after her, flicking on the light as he entered.  Reaching the bed, she turned and let herself fall backwards and he bent over her, brushing her navel and its piercing with his lips, then his tongue.  He worked his way up her body, teasing her nipples, nibbling along her collarbone, before reaching her jaw.  All laughter was gone by the time he claimed her mouth and her hands found the waistband of his jeans again.  
  
Her delicate fingers lightly stroking him nearly drove him wild.  Pushing back off the bed, he tugged her boots and pants off before kicking off his own.  And holy shit, was she unbelievably, blindingly gorgeous as she lay nearly bare before him, just her black lacy thong barely covering her.  Carefully, he stretched out next to her, her hooded eyes tracking every movement.  She reached for him, hand sliding over his abdomen and around to the small of his back, pulling him over so he was half on top of her.  Holding himself up on one elbow, he reached down, tracing the fingers of his free hand up the inside of her thigh and then tickling lightly along the edges of the lace.  There was a sharp intake of breath from her as he dipped beneath, feeling her slickness, and he had to close his eyes for a moment as he fought for control.  Control she undid in the next moment as she widened her knees and curled her pelvis, her thigh providing some impressive friction for his hard on.  
  
“Fuck,” he said under his breath, and he hooked his thumb through the band of her thong and twisted, tearing right through the fabric.  
  
“Hey!” she exclaimed, more laughter than heat in her voice.  
  
“I’ll buy you a new one,” he growled, and he rocked back on his knees to survey her, only to see her doing the same to him.  Somehow he felt almost self-conscious under that gaze.  Though he had been far from celibate in his life, nobody had ever stripped him as bare as she did with those green eyes that saw everything.  
  
He traced her entrance again with his finger, watching her squirm, teasing her until she was writhing.  “Stop wasting time,” she finally gasped, and he grinned and slowly pushed that finger into her, letting out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding as her wet heat enveloped him.  He stroked her once, twice, until her thighs opened further even as she ground out, “It’s not your finger I’m after.”  
  
Huffing a laugh, he bent down and added his tongue, licking above where his finger still moved in her, gently rolling that little bundle of nerves at her apex.  “Aedion,” she moaned, and his cock twitched at the sound of his name on her lips.  Abandoning her for a moment, he lunged up to the little strip of foil packets she had abandoned near the pillows and tore one open, almost dropping it in his haste.  She sat up and took the condom from him, pinching the tip and reaching down to roll it on him with deft ease.  He bit the inside of his cheek hard at the feel of those cool hands on his cock.  
  
Lysandra kissed him, lightly running her tongue over his lips, then lay back down with feline grace.  He followed her, feeling as though invisible strings connected his heart to hers, as if he had no choice but to cover her with his body.  “Are you sure?” he whispered, even as his cock nudged at her entrance.  
  
“Yes,” she murmured in response, sliding her hand down to his ass.  He eased into her, far more slowly than he wanted to, letting her adjust to his hard length, letting himself adjust to the warm grip of her core around him.  She squeezed his ass, and he drove farther into her in response before slowly dragging out.  With each movement the sensation ratcheted up, and soon she was moaning beneath him, hooking her ankles around his thighs to deepen the penetration.  When her breaths were coming in short gasps, he shifted enough to slip his hand between them, finding that sensitive ball of tissue with his finger.  She cried out almost immediately, and he felt her spasm around him as her body arched up off the bed into him.  Her fingernails raked up his back and that was all he needed to send him over the edge with his own hoarse cry, thrusting in hard short bursts to draw out both their climaxes.  
  
“Gods, Aedion, that was…incredible,” Lysandra panted in his ear as he half-collapsed on her, barely able to hold himself up on his elbows.  He pressed a trail of breathless kisses along her jaw, her neck, before gently extracting himself and rolling onto his side next to her.  He kept one hand resting on her abdomen and his calf draped across her ankles, unable to completely stop touching her.  She lay staring at the ceiling as her breathing slowly quieted, then carefully withdrew, rising with a murmured, “Excuse me.”  
  
Aedion watched as she walked out of the room, the light playing across her glorious curves.  The bathroom door clicked shut, and he rolled onto his back, tucking one hand behind his head while he replayed the highlights from the last hour in his mind.  He had never honestly thought he would be so lucky as to have Lysandra look twice at him, let alone pull him into her bed.  A chill ran over him as the sweat on his body began drying in the cool room air, and he nabbed the box of tissues on the nightstand to clean himself up before sliding under the covers.  
  
Lysandra appeared in the doorway, wrapped snugly in slightly shabby pink pajamas, just as he was getting comfortable.  She looked surprised to see him taking up most of her bed.  “You stayed,” she said, not sounding entirely pleased.  Aedion tried not to flinch.  Why the hell would she want him to stay?  She could grace the cover of any magazine, and he was her roommate’s idiot cousin.  Suitable as a fuck buddy, but not much else.    
  
He cast about for something light to say, something that would make her want him in her bed.  His fingers found the remaining condoms and he held them up between his index and middle fingers.  “Well, we’ve still got two of these, seems a shame to let them go to waste.”  
  
She gave a forced laugh and looked down at the floor, but he didn’t miss the ripple of agony that flashed across her face.  He was out of the bed and drawing her into his arms before she could move, cursing himself for the royal asshole he was.  Aelin had sketched just the barest details for him of Lysandra’s past, mostly as a warning for him not to screw around with her roommate, but he knew enough.  What she had had to do to survive on the streets after her mother kicked her out when she was barely fifteen, what had been done to her.    
  
“I didn’t mean it like that, Lys, it was just a stupid joke,” he murmured earnestly, but she remained rigid in his arms.  “Shit, sweetheart, I really am sorry.  I’ll go, if you’d rather.”  
  
“Maybe you’d better.”  But there was none of the anger in her voice he so richly deserved, just shame, and pain.  So he didn’t let go, just stood there and held her, dropping butterfly kisses on her hair, then her temple.  
  
“Lysandra, honestly, I was just looking for way to convince you to let me stay.  I don’t expect anything from you, ever.  It’s just, you’re perfect.”  She huffed in denial, but he went on, “And I could never deserve someone like you, but I want to be with you as much as you’ll let me.”  
  
“I’m not perfect,” she said, her voice thick.  
  
“You are,” he said.  “Any faults you think you have just make you more perfect.”  He kissed her cheek, the moisture there wicking onto his lips so he could taste the salt.  
  
“You can’t be more perfect,” she said, the barest hint of a smile beginning to play on the corners of her mouth.  “You’re either perfect or you’re not.”  
  
“Well, I can’t be perfect at all, because I’m a giant fucking mess.  But you,” he tilted her head up to brush her lips lightly with his own.  “You can be perfect, and more perfect, and more and more perfect, because you’re you.”  Finally she relaxed against him, her arms sliding around his waist, and he rested his cheek on her hair.  
  
“You really want to stay?” she asked finally.  
  
“As long as you’ll let me.  I’ll be like the stray cat you just can’t get rid of.”  
  
She laughed, a real laugh that time, and looked up at him.  “Biggest damn cat I’ve ever seen.”    
  
“Stray ghost leopard, then,”  He scooped her up in his arms and she laughed again as he pulled down the covers and set her gently on the bed, then tucked her in.  Holding her eyes, he walked around the bed and stood there, waiting, a silent question.  With a dramatic sigh, she flipped back the covers and he slipped between them, opening his arm so she could settle her head on his shoulder.  Reaching over her, he shut off the light.  
  
As the darkness settled around them, she said quietly, “I’ve never woken up with someone before.”    
  
Aedion pressed his lips to her forehead and tucked her in closer against him.  “Good night, Lysandra.  I promise I’ll still be here in the morning.”  And he said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever gods were listening as her breathing slowed and deepened and for the first time in her life she fell asleep with someone who loved her.  
  
*****  
  
Aelin was running late, thanks to Rowan’s idea of suitable breakfast time activities, and she still had to shower and change before class.  She slipped her key in the lock, but it was already unlocked.  Weird.  Lysandra was paranoid about break-ins.  She tried the door, and it seemed stuck on something.  She palmed the switchblade that Rowan had given her, and shoved harder at the door, bursting into the room.  
  
It was a leather jacket that the door had been hung up on.  A man’s leather jacket.  She picked it up and studied it.  Aedion’s leather jacket.  She looked around the room, seeing Lysandra’s favorite scarf and coat in a heap near the coat rack, one of Aedion’s well-worn t-shirts near the couch, Lysandra’s shirt and bra on the floor next to it.  A grin began to spread across her face as she walked into the kitchen and noticed the empty box of condoms on the counter.  “Well it’s about damn time,” she muttered, and hurried into the bathroom to get ready. 


End file.
